Wedding Days
by these dreams go on
Summary: Drabble/One-Shot- Caroline is running away from her wedding to Tyler Lockwood when she's nearly run over by the taxi carrying Niklaus Mikaelson. Which, as it turns out, may have been the best thing that could have possibly happened to her. Klaroline.


A/N- Hello, here is a short drabble I wrote for Valentine's Day which will be turned into a full on story later.

And I'd just like to add that I nearly had to post this on Tumblr exclusively because the servers were down and ao3 hasn't sent me my invitation yet :(

For those of you interested in Klaroline smut, check out my tumblr account klaro-addict where I posted up an excerpt from my upcoming story Bad People, continuing on from Bad Girls and Bad Boys Don't series.

Disclaimer- I own nothing associated with TVD or TO

* * *

When Caroline had started planning her wedding day- at five years old- she had imagined every detail down to the type of basket the flower girl would be carrying.

What she hadn't accounted for however, was how hard it was to run away from the church in a full skirted chiffon wedding dress and high heels.

In the middle of _summer_ no less.

And lost somewhere in Richmond.

She has no plan, no idea where she's running or even if she's headed in the right direction, her eyes are filled with tears and the only image in her mind is spurring her to run faster and faster and…

Screech.

Falling.

Horn blaring.

Her feet had led her to a road apparently.

Near her someone is cursing.

"Bloody hell!"

Slowly, she tries to take a deep breath but…she's shaking all over and the tears are probably ruining her make-up.

A pale blur appears in front of her eyes,

"Are you alright?" he asks gently, "Are you hurt?"

She laughs and chokes, holding the back of her hand to her mouth, "I'm sorry…I wasn't…"

Another blur appears to the side and shouts loudly, scaring her,

"You _stupid_ bitch, you ran in front of my car so if you're hurt that's your…"

"Sod off!" the first man snaps, "She's not injured and your bloody taxi's fine"

They move away to argue before the trunk slams and the car speeds off, she closes her eyes as she hears the rolling wheels and the heavy clunk on the ground beside her, the click of locks and the shifting of material before he takes her hand and presses something cool and soft into it,

"Here" he closes her fingers, "Handkerchief"

"Thank-you"

She holds it to her eyes and dabs quickly until she can finally see clearly.

And she's sitting on the road.

Well, not on the road, more like in the gutter, which she can't decide whether that's a step up or down.

Another shaking laugh is wrenched from her body as she sobs and looks up and down the road to make sure she's not about to lose her feet to a eighteen wheeler,

"Don't worry" the man says, "We're in a pretty quiet area, damn taxi driver heard my accent and thought I was a tourist…bastard"

She turns to him and sees a gorgeous blonde haired tanned young man with stunning red lips and worry clouding his blue eyes,

"So…" he glances down at her wedding dress, "Is there someone I can call or…?"

"I walked in on my fiancé getting a blow job from a girl he's only known for three weeks twenty minutes before we were meant to get married" she explains in a rush, offering him back the handkerchief which he waves away, she feels something pulling in her hair and realizes that her veil was tangled in her blonde locks.

His eyes go wide and he gapes before grabbing his suitcase and climbing to his feet,

"Okay, I know a restaurant not far from here that does great coffee"

He holds out a hand and she blushes, "Look, it's not that I'm not grateful but you don't have to…I'm sure you have somewhere to be"

"Actually, I just got back from holiday after a really nasty breakup with my girlfriend" his smile is full of compassion and understanding, "I know what it's like to be absolutely and completely devastated and when I was sobbing in the gutter…well the fire-escape of my apartment, I really wanted someone to talk to"

She takes his hand and he pulls her up gently, making sure she's steady before releasing her,

"It's about five minutes that way" he jerks his head, "One of those industrial warehouse makeovers"

She looks around and finally realises that they're in a part of Richmond she's never seen before, a district of abandoned warehouses and factories.

Exactly how long was she running for?

"I swear I'm not a serial killing psychopath" he adds jokingly when he sees her hesitation but she laughs and holds out her hand,

"I'm Caroline by the way"

"Caroline Forbes"

He grins, "Niklaus Mikaelson"

* * *

The restaurant in question is in a converted section of the street where the buildings are either apartments owned by hipsters and artists or stores or galleries frequented by the same two groups.

The entire front of the building is glass and when they step inside Caroline can see the stunning exposed brickwork and the one wall that is covered in trailing vines that snake up to the ceiling where chandeliers hang and she can hear the trickling sound of a water feature somewhere.

"Nik!"

A woman with stunning red hair in a black pencil skirt and purple silk shirt comes hurrying out from the kitchen with a smile on her face that falters when she sees Caroline,

"Um…" she stares at her incredulously, "Okay…is there a back story to this scenario?"

"He just found me on the street, I'm not his wife" Caroline offers quickly, feeling exceptionally self-conscious as she realises that the restaurant is filled with a lunch crowd who are all noticeably staring at her.

"Two Irish coffees thanks Sage" he prompts and leads Caroline over to a round metal table and two chairs in the corner where she could hide but still have a great view of the windows.

She went to sit down before she felt the pull off her dress and remembered how tight the waist was, with a sigh she gathered up the skirts and sank into the chair carefully but still felt short of breath.

"This place is beautiful" she murmured and he nodded, "Sage planned this place for years and worked herself into an early grave getting it set up"

"And she's your friend?" she asked casually, remembering the little detail that her good Samaritan had just got out of a relationship,

"Sister-in-law" he chuckled, "Which is why she took you in her stride sadly, this is not the weirdest thing she's seen from my family"

"His younger brother Kol once walked in here hand in hand with an orang-utan named Bobby" Sage announced as she approached with two coffees and a large dessert,

"To this day we still don't know where that creature came from"

She smiles at Caroline, "This is a red velvet lamington" she tells her, "I'm guessing you could use some chocolate and sugar right now"

"None for your favourite brother-in-law?" Niklaus teases as she hands the fork to Caroline,

"The last time I gave you chocolate and coffee you grabbed a permanent marker from god-knows-where and did that to my restaurant" she points to the side of the bar where the stainless steel had been turned into a tableau of a forest, with amazing detail and clarity despite being in one colour.

"That's beautiful" Caroline compliments, and Sage snorts, "Yes but when I suggested he contribute art work I meant a painting, not graffiti!"

Niklaus shrugs, "You can't always get what you want sister"

You can't always get what you want.

That statement had Caroline shuddering with bad memories and chewing her lip as she looked down at her gown,

"Hey, would you have a pair of scissors I could borrow?"

Sage caught onto her train of thought before Niklaus did and her eyebrows shot up,

"Yeah, but are you sure honey?"

"I walked in on my fiancé getting a blow job from a girl he's only known for three weeks twenty minutes before we were meant to get married" Caroline repeats, her heart still clenching in the remembered pain and humiliation but at least she isn't breaking down in tears now.

Probably because she's in shock, or angry as hell.

Sage takes her hands and leads her to her office where she sits her at her desk and shows her the large scissors before rifling around in her drawer,

"My mother-in-law is traditional and believes that every woman should always have an emergency sewing kit on her…here!" she hands it to her,

"Shout if you need"

When Caroline stepped out of the office ten minutes later she was drawing attention for a whole other reason.

She had cut off most of the chiffon of her skirt, leaving only a short fishtail on the back and cut away the silk until it fell just above her knee. She was still overdressed but now her outfit was less wedding and more cocktail party.

Niklaus raised an eyebrow in appreciation as she returned to the table, his eyes flickering to her bare legs and she smiled flattered as she sat back down and sipped her cooled coffee,

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked carefully as she took a bite of the lamington and savoured it before glancing around to Sage and offering him the fork, he took it with surprise but helped himself to a piece of the dessert,

"I'm not sure" she answered truthfully, "I mean, you saved my life and got me off the road so I feel as though I owe you an explanation but I also feel that talking might lead me to hunting down my ex and stabbing him with this fork"

He chuckled, "That could be the caffeine and adrenaline talking"

He drains his coffee and one of the servers brings them a jug of water and two glasses,

"You're going to leave him then?"

Caroline didn't even allow herself to think about it before answering. If she did think about it she'd just dissolve into a ball of anxiety and negativity and end up justifying her fiancés actions and hating herself.

"Probably…I'm not up to date on my Emily Post but when a guy cheats on you not even an hour before the wedding, I'm pretty sure it's over…though that might just be the anger and adrenaline talking but…it was our _wedding day_! Who cheats on the _day_ of their wedding?!"

She'd raised her voice during the last part to emphasize her incredulity and been overheard by a nearby table,

"A fucking asshole!" one of the other customers answered and she nodded,

"Right, I mean if you're having doubts call off the wedding but I don't even know if this was the first time…I mean, he met this girl three freaking weeks ago, who manages to have an affair with someone they've known for three weeks?!" she takes a breath and drops her shoulders,

"Sorry, I shouldn't be ranting to you, I haven't even thanked you for taking care of me or…"

Niklaus hands her back the fork, "I know you were nearly hit by a taxi only an hour ago sweetheart but I think getting away from that wedding was probably a good move, besides" he continues cheekily, "I got to rescue a beautiful damsel-in-distress, my ego is through the roof right now"

She laughs and shakes her head, leaning back in her chair as she studied him through her lowered lashes.

This felt weirdly like a date.

Except she was supposed to have got married today, not have coffee in downtown Richmond with a guy she had only met an hour ago.

She drinks the rest of her coffee and sighs, "Well, I'm glad I had a knight to rescue me, even if his armour does need a little shining" she leant over and pulled at his grey Henley, eliciting a laugh from him.

"Although I'm beginning to wish you had a sword I could borrow to use on my fiancé, or that tramp Hayley" she mutters darkly.

She starts as Niklaus chokes on his water, grabbing a napkin and covering his mouth,

"Hayley?!" he splutters, "Not Hayley _Marshall_?"

Caroline's eyebrows shoot up, "You know her?"

"Yeah" he tells her when he can breathe again, "Remember when I mentioned my ex-girlfriend and the nasty break-up…"

"You dated _Hayley_?" she asked, stunned and disbelieving,

"I did" he admitted, "Until she cheated on me…with my older brother"

They stared at each other speechless before he leaned over and grabbed her hand,

"Come on sweetheart" he said, leading her out of the restaurant, "I think this calls for some hard liquor and Sage will cut us off way before we're ready"

"Tequila" she suggested as they hurried across the road, "Wait…screw it, do you know any place that does Russian vodka?"

He grinned, "Follow me"

* * *

When Caroline woke up the next morning she felt disorientated and confused, yawning she stretched and rolled over and nearly screamed when she saw nothing but the streets below her. She scrambled back and hit something and groaned before seeing the bed sheets and realising that she was safe.

She was just next to a floor to ceiling window.

"Sorry"

She twists to see Niklaus standing in a kitchen brewing coffee, "I forgot to warn you last night, the view is amazing but I've had more than one person tell me you feel as though you're falling to the ground"

She runs a hand through her hair and blinks rapidly, looking around the large apartment, modern décor and furniture and at least half the room filled with canvases and art supplies.

She smiled, remembering how they'd told each other their life stories over their second bottle of vodka last night and from what she could recall, this place mirrored him completely.

"Good morning" she chirped as brightly as possible as she padded over to the open kitchen,

"Sleep well?" she teased and he scowled,

"Not in the bloody least" he grumbled, "Even now I'm expecting my mother to storm through that door and disown me for having let a woman talk me into giving her the couch"

"Talk you into it?" she smirked, "I stole your whole day from you and cost you at least one hundred bucks worth of alcohol I wasn't going to kick you out of your own bed as well"

"I wouldn't say you stole my day" he argued as he handed her the coffee, "You certainly made it interesting"

She smiled and stared resolutely into her cup.

Niklaus Mikaelson- or Klaus as she called him now- was amazingly hot when he was still half-asleep.

Desperate not to think about this however, after all, she was still wearing her engagement ring, she stared at the clock on the oven,

"I should probably check in with my family" she sighed mournfully,

"If I'm MIA any longer my mom's going to have a BOLO out on me"

"I can drive you to wherever you need to go" he offered, "Once I remember where I left my bloody keys before jumping on that plane"

He frowned and began rummaging through the large stack of mail on the counter as she picked up her dress and moved into his bedroom to shuck his oversized t-shirt and change,

"Are you sure?" she asked as she shimmied into the white silk, "I've already bugged you enough"

"Nonsense" she hears the jangling of keys "What're friends for?" he said as she slipped back into her heels,

Well.

She might have lost a fiancé but at least she had made a friend.

* * *

_Eight months later- February 14th_

"Come on people! Let's get this show on the road before Caroline comes to her senses"

"Shut up Kol!"

Caroline shook her head and laughed to herself as she finished fiddling with her veil.

Her wedding veil.

For her wedding.

To Niklaus Mikaelson.

There was a frantic knock on the door and Esther hurried into the room, "Oh thank heavens!"

Caroline raised an eyebrow and studied her from her position in front of the mirror while the stylist finished her hair, "Everything okay?"

"Not in the least" her mother-in-law to be moaned, "I damn near forgot to give you the earrings"

She was pulling them out of her clutch now, and placed them carefully in her outstretched hand,

"Thankfully your lovely maid of honour reminded me"

Caroline snorted, lovely was not the word best used to describe Katherine Pierce.

Her maid of honour- for the second time now- was still on a good behaviour bond after having beaten up Tyler after finding out about his cheating on Caroline.

And now she was spending the last two hours before the ceremony staking out Klaus' changing room so she could be absolutely sure that Caroline wasn't making the same mistake twice.

But Caroline had never felt so sure about anything in her life as she was about marrying Klaus.

God she was_ in love_ with the man.

Not that she'd realised it right away, after all, the fallout from her first failed wedding had been messy and she'd been in a fragile place for a while but he had been her very best friend, completely understanding, never pushing her, upfront about his feelings for her but determined not to rush her into anything.

Until that night she had kissed him at the charity gala and they'd gone back to his place and well…

She cleared her throat, absolutely _not_ okay with having sex flashbacks while Esther was in the room.

"You do look so beautiful my dear" she told her, patting her shoulder affectionately,

Caroline smiled at Esther, "Please don't say anything nice to me, I'm emotional enough today as it is"

"Bah," she kissed the crown of her head, "That's why the makeup artist used waterproof mascara"

There was another knock on the door and Esther scowled as Klaus came into the room,

"My son, if I have told you once I've told you a thousand times…"

"Don't worry mother" he interrupted, "I can't see a thing right now"

Caroline laughed as he pressed himself against the wall, his left hand resolutely over his eyes,

"I was hoping to talk to my lovely wife-to-be alone?"

He addressed the room and the stylist shrugged and stood back, "Your hair's done, you just need to get into your dress"

Caroline thanked her and after promising Esther that she'd call when it was time to put on the gown, she managed to empty the room.

"So" she approached her blind fiancée and took his hand, leading him slowly to the couch,

"What's up? Cold feet?" she teased,

"Well" he sighed theatrically with a grimace, "I have good news and bad news"

"The good news is, I am here with you" he squeezed her hand and released it so he could grip her knee beneath the dressing gown,

"The bad news is, as per tradition, there is currently two people having sex in my change room"

Caroline rolled her eyes, "Let me guess, Katherine and Elijah?"

"Once again defying all logical explanation" he groused, "I went out for five minutes to thrash Kol, I come back in and…you'd think my brother would have learnt to lock the door when he's having sex where he's not supposed to be and with people he's not supposed to be but nope, I'm now scarred for life and when I asked them what the bloody hell they were doing do you know what Katherine said? That is was their 'duties' as best man and maid of honour to have sex otherwise our marriage wouldn't be blessed"

"Seriously?!" Caroline laughed, "Well, I'm glad you aren't the one having sex"

He hummed, "Or we could…the weddings' not for another hour after all…"

With a smirk he couldn't see, Caroline stood up and slipped off her robe, grabbing the silk belt,

"Okay, but remember" she told him as she bound it around his head, covering his eyes,

"It's bad luck to see me before the ceremony, so you'll have to use your hands"

"Gladly my love" he swore, reaching out and pulling her giggling onto his lap.

* * *

A/N- Still looking for someone to teach me how to make covers for my stories or make them for me with full artistic licence and payment in exclusive previews of my updates.


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